if i only knew...

Starbucks.... No i don't hate

Starbucks....

No i don't hate it.
Yes, i hated it when i was in the US and Starbucks was EVERYWHERE. Every corner. And there were no other, funkier coffeehouses to go to, just Starbucks, Starbucks, Starbucks.
No, i didn't hate it in Vancouver, because there were fewer and i did find alternatives to go to when i didn't feel like Starbucks.
In Vienna, there are now 2 Starbucks places downtown that i can get to conveniently.
Yesterday i spent 2 1/2 hours in one of them and today i will do that again. You just can't beat it.. HUGE comfy armchairs, cool music, good coffee (yes - i do prefer their mocha to true Viennese Melange... it's just my taste). Now, the traditional Vienna coffee house is elegant, serious, smells of cigarettes and i always feel like i am in a historic setting and i should behave. Like in a theater or opera where everyone wears elegant clothes and talks just a bit quieter because the place has this atmosphere that you have to respect.
I just can't imagine tossing my shoes down and putting my feet up in the armchair to cuddle up comfortably with a book or magazine in a traditional coffee house. But i can do that in Starbucks, because it's made for that sort of lounging. And that's why i love it.
So there... i like Starbucks.